American Art: Background & Context

Where is American art in the new millennium? At the heart of all cultural developments is diversity. Access through recent technology engenders interaction with artists from around the world. The visual arts in the United States are bold and pulsating with new ideas.

A history of the creative expression of colonial women (most of them white) from the early 1600s to the late 1700s. Drawing upon primary sources the timeline covers the visual, literary and performing arts such as: stitchery, quilting, rug hooking, painting, sculpture, fabric design, metalwork, basketry, calligraphy, and drawing as well as literature, dance, acting, oratory, musical composition and performance. Appendices list individuals by skill and by state.

From traditional media of painting and artists such as Horace Pippin and Faith Ringgold, to photography of Gordon Parks, and the abstract art of Sam Gilliam and installations of Martin Puryear the African American experience is reflected across generations and works.

A large compilation with over 4500 images of art tiles produced from the late nineteenth through the twentieth centuries across six regions of the United States. Essays include the production of 161 tile companies as well as information on tile identification.

The first comprehensive, scholarly encyclopedia of folk art in American history and culture. Covers all aspects of American folk art, both famous and lesser-known genres: painting, sculpture, basketry, ceramics, quilts, furniture, toys, beadwork, etc. Covers individual artists, schools, artistic, ethnic, and religious traditions, and heroes who have inspired folk art. .

Many of the artists included, through their work is found in museums and galleries throughout the world, have never before been featured in an English language reference book. Interviews conducted by the author provide first hand insights into the experiences and creative processes of these artists. The rich history and culture of the Arab American people is represented in both traditional media, such as painting and calligraphy, and new media, such as digital art and installations.

Painters, photographers, sculptors, and installation artists are among the seventy-five artists represented in this guide to Asian American artists. Within each entry, Kara Hallmark describes the artists' early life, education and training, and impact on the art world both in their country of heritage as well as the U.S. While some artists dismiss any notion of their heritage influencing their work, others describe how assimilation and immigration affected themselves and their families, particularly those affected by World War II and the Japanese internment camps. Interviews with living artists, as well as extensive images, enhance entries that celebrate the contributions of Asian American Artists to American art.

Presents over 80 19th- and 20-century Jewish American artists, ranging from the critically neglected Theresa Bernstein, Ruth Gikow, and Jennings Tofel, to the well-known Eva Hesse, Roy Lichtenstein, and Larry Rivers. Covering painters, sculptors, printmakers, and photographers, as well as newer forms such as video, conceptual, and performance art, many essays include the artists' own words to flesh out perspectives on their art and their Jewish identity.

The first encyclopedia to explore the history, variety, as well as quality of Native American jewelry from the mid 1800s to end of the 20th c. Covers the work of individual artists, techniques, materials, motifs, etc.

Examines the lives and works of approximately 70 Indigenous North American artists, demonstrating a range of media, themes, and experiences and their influences on and from western culture. They work in diverse media, some of which are considered art (sculpture, painting, photography), while others have been considered craft (works on cloth, basketry, ceramics). Some position themselves as Native artists, while others produce art not connected to a particular cultural tradition.